Now that I am Biting into this problem, I want to take the Mirror off and Open it up to determine the cause of Failure. So far, I don't see any signs og fluid dripping out of the mirror.

 

I just had mine fail on me too, but luckily no nasty fluid leaked out but I was nervous all the way up until I changed it.

I was told from other forums that this was a design fault in the mirror, so buying a secondhand one wasn't any use so I bought a new one which is supposed to have been re-engineered to fix the fault.... time will tell I guess.

Anyway, I ordered one from Jagbits (cost ~380USD including shipping, which is expensive, but I guess thats the cost ofhaving a Jaguar)

I had read an article online that there was a great risk of breaking the windscreen when changing the mirror so I was kind of concerned to try it myself, but I plucked up the courage and it went well.

Procedure I used :

1) Open sunglass cover in roof switch panel and turn plastic screw to drop the roof switch panel down (don't pull it once it comes loose as you have to unplug the wiring harness, then you can put the panel out of the way for the moment)

2) Disconnect the mirror wiring harness that runs into the roof loom

3) Remove the 2 plastic covers over the mirror mounting. One is above the mount and the other is below, covering the rain sensor. I just squeezed both of these covers gently and they came off. There are some small fiddly posts on the top cover so be careful you don't break them off

4) Disconnect the wiring harness that goes from the mirror into the rain sensor. It's quite fiddly

5) In the Jaguar workshop manual it says to remove the rain sensor also, but for me at least there was enough room between the mirror mount and the rain sensor to allow me to remove the mirror without removing the rain sensor (which would have been a pain to take off and stick back on no doubt)

6) Now the fun part !! You need to "wiggle" the mirror and push it down the screen towards the base of the screen. Don't pull it straight down towards the console, it needs to move along the curve of the screen. Mine was pretty stiff but it started to move after a few wiggles then it slide down and off the mounting. I saw advice to add WD40, etc, but I didn't and it came off ok.

7) (assuming you didn't smash the screen) breathe a sigh of relief, mop your brow, fit the new mirror by placing it on the screen and pushing it up towards the roof of the car until it clicks into place on the mounting

8) Put all the other stuff back on, connect up all the wires again, etc

9) Test your rain sensor, auto headlights, roof switches and of course auto dimming mirror are all working, then go for a well deserved beer !

Mine had been broken for a few weeks and it was great to get it working again. Time will tell whether the design has actually been improved or not

 

Exactly as you said. Wiggle back and forth ( Right and Left ) while pushing down. Hopped right off. Now, I have sent an e mail to Donnelly asking for help. I will let you know how I make out.

Regards,

Tom

 

Please post your results, I haven't tried Magna Donnelly in six months or so. None of the mirrors I have in stockmatch the connector on my 2000 VDP, so I'd like to ship thatone out for replacement.

I use a rubber mallet to gently tap the mirror stem down, parallel to the glass, to disengage the mirror clip from the mount.

 

its usually never the taking off, its the putting on that is the biggest risk. And if you get a mirror without the correct connector, unpin it and use your old 1, I do this with the white and yellow connectors as needed since I run a yellow in my wifes Jag and 1 in my Suburban too. And many that I get are white. And even with experience Ive broken 2 windshields in 11 yrs, 1 customer....and ahem 1 mine[sm=laughat.gif]

 

As a follow-up, Sybesma Electronics has taken over Magna Donelly's mirror distribution operations. www.sybesmas.com. Although they won't replace it for free like Magna was doing up until 10 months ago, they will send a rebuilt one that won't leak for $75.

Send them an email, they will email you an order form which you need to send back along with pictures of you mirror's harness and mounting bracket so they send you the correct mirror. You need to send your old one back or they will charge you a $200 core charge. I got mine in 5 days after ordering. No need to buy a new one from the dealer for about $400.

 

I"m in the process of doing this swap out now. Removing the old one is easy - just have to be patient and wiggle it side to side while pulling down along lines of the windshield as mentioned.

My new one is in the mail from Sybesma's Electronics (616-392-6911) now for a total charge of $99 w/ postage + core return. Nice folks and easy to deal with - I emailed them their form and a few pictures of the mirror and the next day they phoned me for a cc# and to say it was ready to ship.

I'm very glad I didn't buy a used one off fleabay or spend $300 at the dealer!

 

thanks